The Wrack

The Maine Beaches Conference was held this year at the beautiful campus of Southern Maine Community College. This conference is held every two years to balance values and expectations on Maine's Beaches as well as thank those volunteers who help keep our beaches clean and healthy. 

The conference was introduced with a history of Southern Maine's Shoreline and the future of what the shoreline could be. The main theme of this year's conference was adapting to a changing climate, which Malcolm Burson (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) gave a presentation on. Different topics and information sessions were held throughout the day, discussing topics such as coastal wildlife, the status of Maine Beaches, coastal property management, intertidal intervertebrates, and many more topics in hands on formats or in the field presentations. 

The day was concluded with a debate between students from Harvard University and Mary Washington University. The question of debate was "Coastal Protection and Private Property Rights: Are Maine's Environmental Regulations Achieving a Balance?" This debate not only increased the knowledge of coastal property management but it also helped to fairly discuss solutions to regulatory problems or impacts.